Inside the hall.
After the two maids left.
Only then did Ji Yunshu explain to Yu Wei: “Temple Justice Yu, did you know that Hualing was already pregnant before her death?”
“What?” Yu Wei was extremely astonished.
Even Vice Minister Jiang was shocked! After the coroner the Ministry of Justice had invited finished examining the body, he only mentioned the time of death and the fatal wound, never mentioning that the deceased was pregnant. So the case file he wrote didn’t record this point either. Hearing Ji Yunshu say this now, he quickly took up his pen to write it down on paper, to add it to the case file later.
Yu Wei said: “Lord Ji, could you be mistaken? Hualing had a strange illness and didn’t have contact with men—everyone in the manor knew this. How could she… how could she be pregnant?”
Ji Yunshu stated with certainty: “This matter is absolutely true. Hualing was indeed pregnant before her death.”
“Then… then who was that person?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have come to question the manor’s maids.”
Yu Wei fell into deep thought.
The shock in his heart had not yet dissipated.
Afterward, Ji Yunshu said: “Temple Justice Yu, I’d like to go see the room where the incident occurred.”
Yu Wei then led her there.
The main room where the incident occurred had already been sealed. The main door was tightly shut, with two official sealing strips pasted on it.
Ji Yunshu barely hesitated before tearing them down in front of Yu Wei and Vice Minister Jiang.
Clean and decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
The main room was where High Justice Yu lived. It wasn’t much different from an ordinary bedroom—the middle was a hall, with an inner chamber and a small study on either side. The wall hiding the skeleton was the one behind the small study. It had now been smashed open, revealing a large hole through which one could see a long corridor behind. The collapsed stone bricks were scattered everywhere, very chaotic, even crushing the bookshelf in the small study, causing the books on it to lie scattered haphazardly on the ground, covered in dust, extremely messy.
Think about it—you’re sitting at a desk writing, reading, working, while behind that wall is a corpse.
For three full years.
It sent chills down one’s spine!
Yu Wei pointed at the ceiling and explained: “That’s where the water leaked from. The wall plaster fell off, and even the wall structure burst open, which revealed the skeleton inside.” Ji Yunshu followed his gaze upward. The white wall only had clusters of water stains remaining. Because it had been soaked in water, the wall plaster had peeled off in many scattered places, making it look like a dilapidated old wall. Moreover, where the rain had leaked, many cracks had burst open, spreading to the surroundings, looking precarious, as if it could collapse at any moment.
She walked around the messy desk in front of her and approached the large hole that had been chiseled open, observing it carefully.
The wall was very thick—it could indeed hide a person!
She turned and asked: “Temple Justice Yu, three years ago when people from the Ministry of Works came to make repairs, what parts of the main courtyard did they work on?” “Almost the entire main courtyard was completely renovated.” Speaking of this, Yu Wei became angry again, saying, “If the Ministry of Works hadn’t cut corners and used substandard materials, this house wouldn’t have deteriorated like this after only three years of living in it. If there hadn’t been a leak, this wall wouldn’t have had problems, the skeleton wouldn’t have been revealed, and my father wouldn’t have…” had trouble.
Before he could finish speaking, he immediately stopped, feeling it was somewhat inappropriate.
If the Ministry of Works hadn’t cut corners causing the house to leak, they wouldn’t have discovered that Hualing had long been dead. If not for this, probably no one would have known, and wouldn’t the murderer have gotten away with it?
Yu Wei quickly said: “Lord Ji, what I said just now was impulsive. Please don’t mind it.”
“I’m not one who likes to gossip!”
She didn’t care.
After looking around the room, she walked out through the chiseled hole. That wall was right next to the corridor behind. Because this place had been sealed, the corridor had also been sealed, with no one coming here anymore.
Through the large hole, one could completely see the entire situation inside the room.
She stood for a while and asked: “After the scaffolding was erected in the main courtyard at that time, did anyone from the manor come in?”
“Orders were given at that time not to allow people from the manor to enter, because there was concern that things might fall from the ceiling and injure people.”
“So only people from the Ministry of Works could come and go freely?”
Yu Wei replied: “Yes.”
Ji Yunshu: “Could they come in at any time?”
“There were specified times. Generally, they arrived at the manor near the end of the hour of Chen and all left by the end of the hour of You.”
Ji Yunshu pieced together the timeline: “That is to say, during the time period when Hualing was murdered, there was no one guarding the main courtyard at all?”
“That’s right!”
“If so, that means during the time Hualing was murdered, anyone could have come here to wall the body into the wall.” Ji Yunshu said.
Yu Wei thought about it and nodded: “Indeed! And at that time, the Ministry of Works hadn’t removed all their materials yet.”
The scope expanded once again.
All these clues were too scattered.
Originally Yu Wei wanted to keep the two for a meal, but given that this case was somewhat sensitive—after all, the current suspect was Yu Wei’s father, Ji Yunshu was the Director of the Bureau of Judicial Review at the Ministry of Justice, and Jiang Lan was Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice—they naturally couldn’t stay, so they politely declined.
Coming out from the Yu manor, the sky had already darkened!
Ji Yunshu expressed her thanks: “Thank you for making this trip with me today, Vice Minister Jiang.”
“Not at all.” Jiang Lan said, “All of us at the Ministry of Justice hope to learn more from you, Lord Ji. That you were willing to bring me is my honor.”
The flattery was quite good!
But she hadn’t brought him to learn—she’d brought him to take notes.
After all, this case file was written by you, so naturally you should supplement it.
Just as the two were about to separate and return in their respective sedan chairs.
Vice Minister Jiang pulled Ji Yunshu aside and asked: “Lord Ji, was the deceased truly pregnant before death?”
He still didn’t quite believe it!
Ji Yunshu nodded.
“Oh my, tomorrow I’ll tell High Justice Li to have that coroner who came to examine the body last time arrested and give him a good beating. To miss such an important clue—he really took money without doing the work.”
Huffing with anger!
His two little mustaches were quite cute.
Ji Yunshu looked at him calmly, saying neither hurriedly nor slowly: “You can’t really blame the coroner for not finding it. After all, only a pile of bones remained, and the deceased was only pregnant during her lifetime, not having given birth to a child. To discover this would indeed be very difficult.”
“Then how did you find it, Lord Ji?”
This…
Because I’m smart!
Because I’m capable!
Do I need to spell it out directly?
She had no interest in discussing technical knowledge issues with him. Seeing that it was getting late, she said: “Lord Jiang, it’s already so late. Let’s each return to rest. Tomorrow I’ll still need you to accompany me on several trips.”
“Where to?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Alright, alright.” Vice Minister Jiang bent at the waist, smiling, “Then this humble official will take his leave first and await you at the Ministry of Justice tomorrow.”
Afterward, he took his sedan chair and left.
Ji Yunshu also boarded her sedan chair, heading toward Prince Rong’s manor. However, throughout the journey, she was preoccupied with heavy thoughts. The clues obtained today were very chaotic and needed to be properly organized.
She closed her eyes and slowly worked through them.
Before long, they arrived at Prince Rong’s manor. “Lord Ji, we’ve arrived.”